Loop Festival – Part 1

The Sian Alive Group. Photos Mike Burnell www.iso400.com

I can’t believe another Loop has come and gone. There were bands, there were glowsticks, there was the inevitable rain – but none of those things are mutually exclusive and this year’s Loop Festival was distinctly different.

The weather didn’t help. It was the third year of Loop Festival and probably for a lot of people who’ve packed this yearly electronic music and art festival, there was the natural expectation of Victoria Gardens, the stomping ground across from University of Brighton, to be taken over COMPLETELY. Like the lady boys never happened. However, this didn’t happen.

The forecast of heavens opening meant the organisers headed for cover. In this case, cover took the form of none other than the Brighton Dome, Corn Exchange and Playhouse complex. This is not the setting most people think of for a festival that’s quite youth-culture oriented, not the playground for the festival types.

Yet, when I arrived on Saturday, a few hours later than I had intented, there was a spill of bodies across the gallery floor in Dome Concert Hall, spread across beanbags, glitter and paint streaked across cheeks. The Corn Exchange felt like a slightly humid front room.

I caught a bit of We Have Band in the Dome Concert Hall, where there were lots of people sitting in the aisles and also standing in the centre. We Have Band have that 80s vocal sound down, dark throaty singing, with a pretty girl in the middle banging on a percussion pad. My friend asked if that’s all she did. No – she sings. They’re all about the bass and drums. Unlike drum n bass. All in all, I enjoyed the band and smarted when my friend said he was bored and wanted to leave. A shame. We Have Bass are Thomas, Dede and Darren Bancroft.

We Have Band – You Came Out (Live in Paris @ La Maroquinerie. February 2009) from We Have Band on Vimeo.

Then Datarock came on, wearing red Adidas tracksuits and these black sunglasses. They looked like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, like that futuristic band. More to follow….!